Kash Patel hearing: FBI director nominee pressed on Jan. 6, conspiracy comments

President Trump's pick to lead the FBI faced his Senate confirmation hearing.

Last Updated: January 30, 2025, 3:54 PM EST

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's pick for FBI director, faced members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in his confirmation hearing Thursday.

Patel, a staunch Trump ally, was the acting deputy director of national intelligence during the last year of Trump's first presidency. He has said it's his mission to "annihilate" the so-called "Deep State" of "unelected tyrants" inside government.

Among his supporters, Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has called Patel's career "a study in fighting for unpopular but righteous causes, exposing corruption, and putting America First."

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Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Jan 30, 2025, 11:59 AM EST

Patel won't say he'll protect agents who worked with Smith

During questioning from Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, Patel wouldn't unequivocally commit to ensuring that the FBI agents who worked on special counsel Jack Smith's cases against Trump won't be fired.

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 30, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Blumenthal said Patel "failed" the first test to see if he would truly be apolitical.

"If you can't commit that those FBI agents will be protected from political retribution, we can't accept you as FBI director," the senator said.

Jan 30, 2025, 11:57 AM EST

Patel won't say if he would resign if pressured

In an exchange with Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, Patel was repeatedly pressed over how he would approach politically sensitive investigations if confirmed as the FBI's next director.

Patel answered that the FBI director directly reports to the deputy attorney general, who is supervised by the attorney general.

Coons then further pressed Patel on how he would respond if an FBI line agent brought him a predicated case against someone politically favored by Trump, and the White House asked him to stand down.

"The line agents, the brick agents, who are trained to bring investigations on behalf of the FBI, will make that decision-making process, and they will only have my full support, so long as it upholds absolutely every value of the Constitution," Patel answered.

But Patel declined to go as far as his predecessor in the job -- former FBI Director Christopher Wray -- in saying that if he were ever improperly pressured by the White House to bring or drop a case, he would resign.

Jan 30, 2025, 11:51 AM EST

Klobuchar presses Patel on past statements

Sen. Amy Klobuchar continued to press Patel on past statements regarding a second Trump administration.

"I've looked at it, I've read this stuff. Yes or no ... did you say this, 'When Trump wins in 2024 and is in power in 2025, we can prosecute them,' referring to Justice Department officials, 'for an actual RICO statute violation, for criminally organizing the United States government to break the law to rig presidential elections.' Did you say that, yes or no?" she asked.

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's nominee to be director of the FBI, arrives on the day he testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 30, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Patel refused to answer.

At the end of her questioning, Klobuchar clashed with the chairman, Sen. Grassley, over her line of questioning.

A clearly agitated Klobuchar declared to Grassley, "It is his own words, it is not some conspiracy. It is what Mr. Patel actually said himself. Facts matter."

Jan 30, 2025, 11:42 AM EST

Patel clashes with Klobuchar

Patel and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn, clashed dramatically over a selection of his past comments. He repeatedly responded to the questions claiming he can't respond to partial quotes.

Patel eventually erupted.

"If the best attacks on me are going to be false accusations and grotesque mischaracterizations, the only thing this body is doing is defeating the credibility of the men and women at the FBI," he said

But it's not clear how much what Klobuchar and other Democrats have been citing was taken out of context.

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 30, 2025.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

For example, Patel strongly denied that he published an alleged "enemies list" at the end of his book "Government Gangsters," published in 2023.

Klobuchar did not say it was an "enemies list," but Patel still responded, "That is a total mischaracterization," and described it simply as "a glossary in the back" of the book.

In fact, as ABC News has previously reported, the book identifies 60 current and former officials as "Members of the Executive Branch Deep State" -- people who the book called "corrupt actors of the first order."

[A]ll those who manipulated evidence, hid exculpatory information, or in any way abused their authority for political ends must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Patel wrote in his book.